Secure Our World: Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and it’s a great opportunity to highlight the importance of keeping your digital operations safe. 

Cyber criminals don’t discriminate when planning attacks. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a startup, or an established corporation, your systems are at risk if you store valuable personal or financial information. You should even keep cybersecurity in mind outside of work to protect your personal assets. 

Not sure where to start with your cybersecurity strategy? Here’s what you need to do to protect yourself online. 

Key Takeaways

• October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which promotes cybersecurity best practices for both individuals and businesses. 
• Changing your daily digital habits can help you avoid cyberattacks and stay safe online. 
• Important practices to implement include multi-factor authentication, regular software updates, and phishing awareness. 

What is Cybersecurity Awareness Month? 

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCAM) is an annual event designed to promote cybersecurity best practices throughout the United States. 

The US government created this event in 2004 and it has been observed every year since. The event is organized by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA. 

The theme for this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month is “Secure Our World”. It focuses on making changes to your daily routine that create a safer online environment for all. 

Cybersecurity is worth prioritizing all year round. However, if your business doesn’t currently have a cybersecurity plan in place, this month is the perfect time to start. 

Strengthen Your First Line of Defense: Passwords

Protecting your systems starts with creating strong passwords that hackers can’t crack. 35% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by weak passwords. 

Ideally, your passwords should be at least 12 characters long. The longer and more unique your password is, the more difficult it will be to crack. 

Each password can also contain a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols, and should not use words or phrases that would be easy for hackers to guess; the key is length – an eight character password can be hacked in 1 minute, and a 16 character password would take 143 million years to crack. You should use a unique password for each digital account you have. That way, if one password is compromised, the rest will still be safe. 

You should also change your passwords on a regular basis. Some cybersecurity experts recommend changing your passwords once per year, while others recommend changing them every three months. Either way, you should always change your password after a known data breach. 

Keeping track of multiple passwords at once can be tricky. To make it easier, use a password management app. These apps can generate unique passwords for you and keep them secure. 

Multiply Your Security With Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

While passwords serve as your first layer of defense against cyber threats, multi-factor authentication keeps your accounts even more secure. 

With MFA, you’ll need to enter your username, password, and a third piece of verifying information to access your account. The third piece of information is usually an alphanumeric code sent via email or SMS. 

This way, even if a hacker cracks your password, they still won’t be able to access your account, as they don’t have access to your email or text messages. MFA will also help notify you about possible data breaches faster, as you’ll receive a notification when someone tries to log into your accounts. 

Enable MFA on all personal and professional accounts to add this extra layer of security. 

Phishing: Don’t Take the Bait!

Phishing is one of the most common types of cyberattacks, and it can lead to devastating data breaches. In a phishing attack, the cyber criminal poses as a trusted contact or organization to gain your trust, and then exploits that trust to gain access to your systems. 

For example, a hacker might send an email posing as your bank or a popular e-commerce site like Amazon. The email links to a fake website prompting you to “log in” with your username or password. 

This is just one of many possible approaches to phishing — the hacker might pose as a celebrity, a friend, or even your boss to gain your trust. 

Nearly nine million phishing attacks were detected globally in 2023, and they are getting more sophisticated as technology improves. Many scammers now use AI tools to write their phishing messages, which makes them very difficult to detect. 

Because of this, you will need to be very diligent when responding to emails, text messages, and social media messages to avoid phishing attacks. Before opening any message, check to make sure the sender is legitimate. In a phishing attack, the sender’s email or username will look similar to a legitimate account, but have small differences. 

There are a few other tell-tale signs of phishing to watch for in the body of the message. Many phishing messages are full of grammar and spelling mistakes, and they often use a sense of urgency to encourage the recipient to act. 

Always err on the side of caution when interacting with emails from unfamiliar or suspicious senders. Do not click on any links or open any attachments until you’ve confirmed that the message is legitimate. 

The Importance of Software Updates

Keeping your software updated is a must for preventing cyberattacks. Hackers often use bugs or loopholes in outdated versions of popular software programs to launch cyberattacks. Developers frequently release software updates to address these issues and keep users safe. 

Unfortunately, many people wait to update their software until it is too late. Failing to update your software in time could give hackers easy access to your data or even cause serious damage to your systems. 

To avoid these issues, proactively install new software updates as soon as they become available. For large companies, this may mean scheduling time each month to ensure updates and patches are deployed without disrupting your operations. 

Be Prepared

Cyber criminals often strike at random, so you’ll need to be prepared for any security threats that come your way. 

This often starts with creating backup copies of your most important data. This way, if your system is compromised, you’ll still have access to the assets you need. 

For many organizations, preparation also means implementing a disaster response plan. This is a plan that outlines exactly what you’ll do in the event of a data breach. A Managed Service Provider can help you create a disaster response plan that’s appropriate for your organization. 

With a disaster response plan in place, you can spring into action quickly if a cyberattack happens to prevent data loss. Depending on your organization, this could mean restoring backup data, changing passwords, temporarily shutting off systems, or contacting customers.